The Iron Cross Army has decided to do the smart thing and steal dogs and force them to find Spider-Man using their enhanced sense of smell. Ayup, that’s basically the plot of the episode.

A bunch of dogs are being mistreated by Ninders, as they bark and yelp at the grunts who are hitting them with batons. This is part of the Iron Cross Army’s special training regimen of stimulating the dog’s tracking instincts. All that’s left is to get the spider extract, made of poisonous spiders that Garia had to endure for 400 years. Apparently, these spiders that basically poisoned him to death will be the key to finding Spider-Man. I’m not exactly sure if the Spider Extract in Takuya IS the same type as these cave ones, I assumed it was in the bracelet the whole time.

Another clear problem, especially for loyal readers (if there are any), is that they used a Machine Bem with enhanced smell in an earlier episode. It was designed to be 100x better than a dog, and yet the Iron Cross didn’t have the insight of capturing Spider-Man’s smell, despite the battles that raged on these 28 stories. The writers must be really bummed that they can’t do anything REALLY crazy anymore like they did earlier in the decade, hackneyed or not.

What’s the matter, kid?

The next day, Amazoness and some labcoat wearing thugs take Jun the Collie away from their owners. The mother is fooled into believing that it’s because of rabies, even though the dog just had its shots. Kazuo chases after the Iron Cross van, and conveniently Takuya is riding along and goes with the kid. The trail is obviously lost, and so they head back home with nothing else to do.

Somewhere in a park, Amazoness tests out the Spider-Extract and puts it on a Ninder. An Alsatian is forced to attack at any sign of the scent and mauls the grunt to death, presumably. It’s time to put the plan into action.

Later, Hitomi receives a strange call from Saeko Yoshida, who straight up tells her that she’s Amazoness of the Iron Cross Army and has a message for Spider-Man, Interpol Japan will be attacked in a few hours. Hitomi freaks out and runs to the Yamashiro household to tell them, rather than calling the police.

Takuya tells her to forget it, since it’s probably a trap, while standing on his head for some reason. They really aren’t that intimate apparently if he monkeys around whenever they’re together. He heads upstairs, and a puppy starts licking Hitomi’s shoes. She calls it a “filthy dog,” and it’s just Takuji’s pet, named “Takuya.” Why? Because the kid can feel superior to his slacker brother, really.

Come on, son!

Upstairs, Takuya calls Interpol and the entire complex is placed under guard in a matter of seconds. Amazoness watches the event on screen and Professor Monster laughs at how she keeps suspecting Takuya Yamashiro. They should killed off the Yamashiro family to be sure, but I guess their wanton killing streaks still have their limits. They decide to use another method to draw out Spider-Man, blowing up some random building. One terrorist act thwarted, another one happens. What is up with the Iron Cross Army, are they on a budget.

Later that day, the Alsatian from earlier finds Spider-Man and tracks him to some building. Lots of snipers are mobilized and they keep firing at the wall crawler. Everywhere he goes,he just can’t escape from the bullets. Sure they miss, but jeez, take a break! The narrator mirthfully tells us he’s fallen into their trap. It doesn’t help that the dog is still chasing him. He ends up at the park, and that dog is still unrelenting. Takuya eventually reaches home and collapses.

The actual plot of the Iron Cross Army is revealed, as they will blow up an amusement park. Spider-Man can’t do a damn thing, especially with that dog chasing him. So he decided to do it the easy way, instead of using his Spider-Strength, he’ll place a bear trap in the middle of the park. Unfortunately for him, Kazuo (the boy from earlier) is still looking for Jun the Collie and sees him setting up the trap. Just as the dog gets closer to the spot, lured by Spider-Man, the boy sets off the trap with a giant stick. The dog freezes in his tracks, and suddenly falls down due to exhaustion. The Ninders fires at them, and Kazuo bravely protects the dog, while Spidey disables the gunmen.

They bring the dog to an abandoned shed, and try to nurse it back to full energy. The Iron Cross Army have done a very cruel thing with this training regimen, forcing them to die of exhaustion. Kazuo begs the Shepherd to keep fighting for its life, while Spidey heats outside to find some milk for the dog. After happily lapping it up, the dog got his energy back, but for how long? It’s time to rescue the rest of the canines!

As Spidey and the dog head for the lair, the sinister plot is a foot, as thugs place bombs in trash cans and whatnot. The dog struggles to maintain his footing, and despite repeated cries of stopping, it continues to keep going. Considering Ricky survived a fall down the dam in an earlier episode, looks like this guy’s trying to exert the same energy. Can Spider-Man save the dogs AND the amusement park in time? After a harrowing few minutes, he does because the dog lead them to the amusement park, which conveniently holds the dogs as well.

Standing on the side of a tree!

Just as Amazoness readies to operate the remote control, the man moved by the love for animals appears to save the day. While he fights these bad guys, Kazuo heads into the pound to save the dogs. Lucky for us, there is NO Machine Bem this episode, always a welcome subtraction.

Kazuo reunites with Jun, and Spider-Man has to say farewell to the Alsatian who was once an enemy now a comrade.